Winch and crank assemblage



Aug. 29, 1961 F. E. FULTON 2,997,893

WINCH AND CRANK ASSEMBLAGE Filed Oct. so, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TOR. F20 Y0 E. FwJ-OA/ ATTORNEY} Aug. 29, 1961 T N 2,997,893

WINCH AND CRANK ASSEMBLAGE Filed Oct. 30, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 45 A TI'OENEY! United States Patent 9 2,997,893 WINCH AND CRANK ASSEMBLAGE Floyd E. Fulton, West Allis, Wis., assignor to The Fulton flompany, West Allis, Wis., a corporation of Wiscousin Filed Oct. 30, 1959, Ser. No. 849,786 6 Claims. (Cl. 74-548) This invention relates generally to improvements in winches, and it relates more particularly to improvements n the construction and operation of devices for facilitating the operation of crank actuated winches or the like.

The primary object of the present invention is to provrtle an improved winch actuating device which is simple in construction and flexible in its adaptations to effectively control the operation of winches wherein the rotary load carrying drum is adapted to be either positively rotated in opposite directions or capable of free wheeling when lowering a load.

Some of the more important and specific objects of the invention are as follows:

To provide an improved cranking device for effecting actuation of a winch having a load lifting or hauling drum which is alternately rotatable to perform different types of work, and which may be adjusted to prevent spinning of the crank when free wheeling of the drum is effected.

To provide a winch actuating crank handle which can be quickly applied to either of several shafts for rotating a winch drum at different speeds or with variable power, and which when applied is locked to the active shaft but may be readily removed to prevent unauthorized actuation of the winch.

To provide a simple winch actuating assemblage Which may be conveniently adjusted to produce variable functioning of the hoisting drum, and which is safely applicable to effect either positive lifting and lowering of the loads or free wheeling of the drum during descent of such loads.

To provide an improved crank handle for effecting manual actuation of diverse types of winches, which may be adjusted to vary its swing, and which can also be operatively applied to effect either positive rotation of the winch drum at various speeds or safe free wheeling without removing the handle.

To provide a winch unit wherein the hoisting drum is capable of being rotated by power applied by a crank to either of two propelling shafts, one of which is operable to positively rotate the drum in opposite directions at relatively high speed, while the other is adapted to likewise rotate the drum at lower speed, and in which the rotary drum is subject to free wheeling under restraint by a brake applied to one of the propelling shafts, the actuating crank being alternately applicable to either shaft and remaining applied while free wheeling is being effected without having producing movement of the crank.

These and other more specific objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description. v

A clear conception of the features constituting the present improvement, and of the construction and operation of one commercial embodiment of the invention, may be had by referring to the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this specification in which like references designate the same or similar parts in the various views.

FIG. 1 is a side view of a typical winch having a pair of alternately operable drive shafts and mechanism for varying the functioning of the load actuating drum, look- 2,997,893" Patented Aug. 29, 1961 ing toward the manually manipulable crank handle which is drivingly attached to one of the shafts;

FIG. 2 is a sectional top view of the crank handle showing the same associated with fragments of the winch and drive shafts, the section being taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the improved cranking device for the winch shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, showing the various parts alined for free removal of the crank handle from either of the drive shafts;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the U-shaped clamp member of the crank handle attaching device; 7

FIG. 5 is an enlarged vertical section through the clamp member of FIG. 4, taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 2, and showing the remaining parts of the attaching device adjusted to lock the crank handle to one of the drive shafts;

FIG. 6 is a similarly enlarged section through the clamp, like that of FIG. 5, but showing the device adjusted for free removal from the drive shafts;

FIG. 7 is a likewise enlarged section through the clamp, also like that of FIG. 5, but showing the device adjusted to lock the crank handle to the other drive shaft;

FIG. 8 is a transverse vertical section through the assemblage taken along the line 8-8 of FIG. 7, and

showing the parts adjusted as inlFIG. 7; and

FIG. 9 is another transverse vertical section through the same assemblage, taken along the line 9-9 of FIG. 1, but also showing the parts adjusted as in FIG. 7.

While the invention has been shown and described herein as having been incorporated in a manually actuated winch wherein the drum is alternately operable by two shafts to actuate the drum at different speeds, it is not intended to limit the use of the improved features to such an assemblage; and it is also contemplated that specific descriptive terms employed herein be given the broadest possible interpretation consistent with the disclosure.

Referring to the drawings, and especially FIGS. 1 and 2, the manually operable winch unit shown therein, com

' frame walls 13 and having a pinion 21 mounted thereon near one end meshing with the gear 19 while its opposite end is provided with a speed restraining brake 21'; a latch lever 22'swingab1y mounted upon a pivot 23 carried by one of the frame walls 13 and having pawls 'cooperable with the gear 19; and a crank handleassemblage interchangeably attachable to the shafts 17., 20 respectively.

All of the winch unit structure excepting the crank handle assemblage and the formation of the ends of the shafts 17, 20 to which the handle is attachable, is of well known construction, and the present invention therefore relates to improvements in the cranking device for the winch. The outwardly protruding driving end of each shaft 17, 20 is provided with a polygonal portion 25 and with an extreme end portion 26 of reduced diameter provided with an annular medial flange 27 as clearly illustrated in FIGS. 2, '3 and '8, and these shaft ends are formed to alternately receive a special driving crank assemblage constructed as follows.

The crank arm comprises an outer bar 29 having a handle 30 secured to its extreme outer end while its inner end overlaps and is telescopically adjustably connected to the swinging end of an inner bar 31 by means of a U- shaped clamping yoke 32 and a clamping screw 33, see FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. The inner end portion of the bar 31 is provided with an opening 34 adapted to receive and snugly embrace the larger diameter portion of either shaft 17, 20 adjoining the polygonal portion 25 thereof, and the extreme inner end of the bar 31 is also provided with a stop 35, while the opposite ends of the bar 29 have similar stops thereon. e

A U-shaped member 37 which is provided with a hole 38 adapted to receive and snugly embrace the reduced diameter extreme end portion 26 of either shaft 17, 20, also has a pair of alined elongated slots 39 in its flanges adapted to receive the inner end of the inner handle bar 31 so as to aline the opening 34 with the hole 38, and the wall of the member 37 between its flanges is also provided with six detents 40, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 9. Interposed between the wall of the member 37 and the crank bar 31, and slidably confined between the flanges of this U-shaped member, are two flat plates 41, 42 and a spring element 43, adapted to be assembled into a device for interchangeably connecting the crank handle to either shaft 17, 20, and for effecting free rotation of these shafts without removing the handle but for also effecting removal of the handle assemblage from the winch.

. The plates 41, 42 are rectangular in shape, and the plate 41 is formed of considerably heavier sheet-metal stock than the plate 42. The thicker plate 41 is provided with a through opening 45 the lower portion of which is large enough to permit free passage of the shaft flange 27 therethrough, and the upper portion of the opening 45 is formed to snugly engage the polygonal shaft por tions 25 and to provide a positive driving connection be or lowered from mid-position to lock the crank against withdrawal from the adjacent drive shaft;

, The element 43 is a flatresilient spring provided at its upper and lower ends with integral flanges 48 which in the assembled device, extend across the upper and lower ends of the plates 41, 42 as in FIGS. 8 and '9, to hold these plates in alinement. 'The spring element 43 is also provided with a central opening 49 the width of which is slightly greater than the diameter of the shaft flange. 27, and in which this flange is confined in the final assem-.

blage as shown in FIG. 8; and the element 43 is moreover provided with six projections 50 adapted to enact with the detents 40 in the member 37 to frictionally retain the plates 41, 42 either elevated as in FIG. 5, or in midposition as in FIG. 6, or lowered as in FIG. 7. The resilient element 43 is biased to clamp the plates 41, 42,

against each other and the plate 41 against the inner bar 31 of the crank handle while reacting against the wall of the member 37 as illustrated in FIG. 8, but may be shifted from one position to another by merely applying reasonable pressure against its flanges 47.

When the various parts have been constructed as above described, the crank arm should first be assembled by inserting the outer end of the bar 31 with the outer end stop 35 applied through the alined slots 52 of the yoke 32, and by thereafter sliding the bar 29 with the inner end stop 35 applied longitudinally and outwardly through these slots 52 before the spindle on which the handle 30 is rotatably supported is riveted in place to provide the outer stop 35'. This provides a telescopically adjustable ananas composite crank which may be adjusted to various lengths between the stops on the adjacent ends of the overlapped bars 29, 31 as will be apparent from FIG. 2, and the clamping screw 33 may be utilized to hold these bars in adjusted position. The various stops 35, 35' will then function to prevent separation of the two bars 29, 31 while permitting convenient adjustment of the length of the crank.

' The device for attaching the inner end of the crank handle to the shafts 17, 20 may then be applied to the pivot end of the bar 31 by inserting this bar end with a stop 35 applied, through the alined slots 39 of the member 37, and by thereafter sliding the spring element 43 with the two plates 41, 42 confined therein, into place between the side flanges of the member 37 into the midposition illustrated in FIG. 6, thus preparing the cranking assemblage for cooperation with either of the drive shafts 17, 20. The adjusting device may then be slipped onto the projecting end of either drive shaft 71, 20 as in FIG. 6 wherein the crank assembly is only frictionally held in place by the spring element 43 with polygonal portion 25 of the drive shaft located within the upper part of the enlarged lower portion of the opening 45 in the plate 41 and the reduced end portion 26 of the shaft disposed within the enlarged mid-portion of the opening 46 in the plate 42.

In this position of the parts, the crank handle may also be readily removed from the drive shaft without manipulating the spring element, but if it is desired to lock the device in place without providing a positive driving connection with the shaft, it is only necessary to push the spring element 43 with the plates 41, 42 confined therein upwardly into the position shown in FIG. 5, whereupon the polygonal shaft portion 25 will be located within the lower part of the enlarged portion of the opening 45 in the plate 41 but the reduced shaft portion 26 will be disposed in the lower narrower portion of the opening 46 in the other plate 52, thus causing the shaft flange 27 which is of larger diameter than this narrower opening portion to lock the cranking device against removal from the shaft. shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 will permit free rotation of the adjacent shaft during free wheeling of the drum 14 without causing the cranking handle to swing or spin about its pivotal axis as in prior winches.

When it becomes desirable to provide a positive drive between the crank and the shaft, it is only necessary to press the spring element 43 with the confined plates 41, 42 downwardly into the position shown in FIGS. 1, 7, 8

and 9. The polygonal shaft portion 25 will then enter the upper narrow parts of the openings 45, 46 in the plates 41, 42 to establish a positive driving connection between the crank handle and the shaft for rotation of the latter in either direction, thus making the adjustable crank attaching device highly flexible in its adaptations to either apply or remove the handle, to lock the handle to the shaft so as to permit free wheeling of the drum, or to effect a positive driving connection while also looking the handle in place. The improved attachment may obviously be applied to either the high speed drive shaft 17 or to the low speed drive shaft 20, and the brake 21 may be applied to either of these shafts and either shaft may also be omitted if only one operating speed is required.

i From the foregoing detailed description it should be apparent that the present invention in fact provides a simple and readily manipulable cranking device for a winch, in which the radius of swing of the operating crank can be conveniently varied, and wherein the crank may be easily attached to or removed from one or more drive shafts, or locked to the'shafts either for positive driving or to permit free wheeling of the hoisting drum. The major parts of the improved cranking unit may be accurately constructed from sheet metal with the aid of punches .and dies and readily assembled for cooperation with various types of winches, and the heavier plate 41 However, both of the settings of the parts functions to positively transmit driving motion to the shaft while the lighter plate 42 merely serves to lock the assemblage in place. An important feature of the invention is the provision of a power transmitting connection from the crank to the drum driving shaft which will not permit the crank to move or spin during free wheeling of the drum, and the invention has proven highly successful in commercial use.

It should be understood that it is not desired to limit the improvement to the exact details of construction and operation of the winch herein specifically shown and described, since various modifications within the scope of the appended claims may occur to persons skilled in the art I claim:

1. In combination, a rotary drum, a shaft cooperable with said drum to effect either posiitve rotation or to permit free wheeling thereof, said shaft having a driving extremity provided with an inner cylindrical portion and with a polygonal portion adjoining said cylindrical portion and with an annular groove adjoining said polygonal portion and with an outer reduced cylindrical extreme end, a U-shapcd member having a hole coacting with said reduced shaft end and being provided with recessed flanges extending inwardly along the opposite sides of said shaft to overlap said inner cylindrical shaft portion, a crank having a pivot opening coacting with said inner shaft portion and also having portions on opposite sides of said pivot opening coacting with the recesses of said member flanges, a pair of flat plates having elongated slots coacting respectively with said polygonal shaft portion and said shaft groove and being shiftable transversely of said shaft to alternately effect either a positive drive between said crank and said shaft or to permit freewheeling of said drum while holding the crank against displacement along the shaft, and a spring element coacting with said member and with said plates to urge the latter into frictional engagement with each other and with said crank.

2. In combination, a rotary drum, a shaft cooperable with said drum to eflect either positive rotation or to permit free wheeling thereof, said shaft having a driving extremity provided with a circular end and with a polygonal section remote from said end and with an enlarged circular portion adjoining said polygonal section, a U- shaped member having a hole coacting with said circular shaft end and being provided with flanges extending along the opposite sides of said shaft to overlap said enlarged circular shaft portion, a crank having a circular pivot opening coacting with said enlarged shaft portion and also having portions on opposite sides of said pivot opening coacting with said member flanges, a plate having an elongated slot coacting with said polygonal shaft section and being shiftable laterally of said shaft to alternately effect either a positive drive between said crank and said shaft to permit free wheeling of said drum, and a spring element interposed between said member and said plate and being operative to hold said plate in either shifted position.

3. In combination, a rotary drum, a shaft cooperable with said drum to effect either positive rotation or to permit free wheeling thereof, said shaft having a driving extremity provided with a circular end and with a polygonal section remote from said end and with an enlarged circular portion adjoining said polygonal section, a U-shaped member having a hole coacting with said circular shaft end and being provided with flanges extending along the opposite sides of said shaft to overlap said enlarged circular shaft portion, a crank having a circular pivot opening coacting with said enlarged shaft portion and also having portions on opposite sides of said pivot opening coacting with said member flanges, a plate having an elongated slo-t coacting with said polygonal shaft section and being shiftable laterally of said shaft to alternately efiect either a positive drive between said nk; and. said shaf or to perm t tree wheelin of said drum, a spring element interposed between said member and said plate and being operative to hold said plate in either shifted position, and another plate interposed between said spring element and said slotted plate and coacting with said shaft to detachably retain said U- shaped member and said crank upon the shaft.

4. In combination, a rotary drum, a shaft cooperable with said drum to effect either positive rotation or to permit free wheeling thereof, said shaft having a driving extremity provided with an inner circular portion and with an outer reduced circular end and having a polygonal section and an annular groove interposed between said inner shaft portion and end, a U-shaped member having a circular hole coacting with said reduced shaft end and being provided with recessed flanges extending inwardly along the opposite sides of said shaft to overlap said inner shaft portion, a crank having a circular pivot opening coacting with said inner shaft portion and also having portions on opposite sides of said pivot opening coacting with the recesses of said member flanges, a pair of plates having elongated slots coacting respectively with said polygonal shaft portion and said shaft groove and being shiftable laterally of said shaft to alternately effect either a positive drive between said crank and said shaft or to permit free wheeling of said drum while detachably holding said crank against movement along the shaft, and a spring element coacting with said member and with said plates and being operative to hold said plates in either shifted position.

5. In combination, a rotary device, a shaft cooperable with said device to effect either positive rotation or to permit free wheeling thereof, said shaft having a driving portion provided with an inner circular pivot section and with a polygonal section adjoining said pivot section and with an annular groove adjoining said polygonal section and with an outer reduced circular extreme end, a U-shaped member having a hole coacting with said reduced shaft end and being provided with a recessed flange extending inwardly along and spaced from said shaft to extend laterally beyond said inner shaft portion, a crank having an opening coacting with said shaft pivot section and also having a portion remote from said opening coacting with the recess of said member flange, a pair of flat plates having elongated slots cooperable respectively with said polygonal shaft portion and with said shaft groove and being shiftable transversely of said shaft to alternately effect either a positive drive between said crank and said shaft or to permit free wheeling of said device while preventing movement of the crank along the shaft, and a spring element coacting with said member and with said plates to urge the latter into frictional engagement with each other.

6. In combination, rotary device, a shaft cooperable with said device to effect either positive rotation or to permit free wheeling thereof, said shaft having a driving portion provided with an inner circular pivot section and with a polygonal section adjoining said cylindrical section and with an outer reduced circular extreme end, a U-shaped member having a hole coacting with said reduced shaft end and being provided with slotted flanges extending inwardly along the opposite sides of said shaft to overlap said inner circular shaft section, a crank having an opening coacting with said inner shaft portion and also having portions on opposite sides of said opening coacting with the slots of said member flanges, a flat plate having an elongated slot cooperable with said polygonal shaft section and being shiftable transversely of said shaft to alternately effect either a positive drive between said crank and shaft or to permit free wheeling of the device, and a U-shaped spring element coacting with said member and with said plate to hold the plate in either shifted position.

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